Shadowfeet
by jellyjay
Summary: Twinkle toes was a more than fitting name when he first convinced her to teach him earthbending, reason being that his footfalls at the time were so light and carefree. Set two years post war. Taang. Sequel thing to 'What to Do with Daylight'.


**Dear me, I'm doing it again! Every single time I try to write a sequel to something, a plotbunny for something different totally kills it! I'm still working on 'Daylight', okay? My brain just died and a plotbunny invaded it and made it make me write this.**

**It's another one of those CD challenge thing (remember 'What to do with Daylight?'). Still based on Brooke Fraser's stuff, only this time, it's her second album, 'Albertine'. It's Taang by the way.**

**Enjoy!**

**I do not own Brooke Fraser or the characters of Avatar: the Last Airbender. I do, however, have Miss Fraser's CDs and the first season of Avvy.**

**--------------------------**

**Shadowfeet**

'Twinkle toes' was a more than fitting name when he first convinced her to teach him earthbending, reason being that his footfalls at the time were so light and carefree – barely even touching the ground.

Back then, Aang had almost no limitations. What he could do was boundless, and happy, and full of the energy and freedom that Toph absolutely _adored_. How could he be so _free_? He had the entire war-torn world on his twelve year-old shoulders! It almost seemed impossible, yet he didn't seem to have a care in the world.

What Toph cannot understand is how he can go from twelve year-old carefree Aang with the entire world depending on him to now fourteen year-old, troubled and quiet Aang within the space of a few months. Where on earth did the first one go? The one she had sworn to follow for the rest of her life?

Now that he is bound to the ground, Toph thinks it appropriate to rename him because 'Twinkle toes' doesn't _quite _fit anymore.

He is 'Shadowfeet' now.

**Deciphering Me**

She is wearing _that _expression again. It's quite bothersome – Toph is almost _never _troubled, and even if she happens to be, she'd never let _him _see it. For some time now, she has been wearing that expression, and (Aang must be honest with himself now) it is becoming insanely irritating.

Sokka tells him that she is perfectly fine when he is around – or when Zuko, or Katara, or Suki, or Iroh are, for that matter – but this causes Aang to distress a little. He can tell that she is hiding something from them all because whenever she feels his footfalls upon the earth, she casts her pale, unseeing eyes at him and forces a smile.

Toph does not force smiles. Nor does she even force herself to do anything. She does what she wants when she wants and that has been the nature of her behaviour for the two years he's known her.

He thinks he has her completely deciphered, and he knows that something about him is weighing down her thoughts – but what?

**Love, Where is your Fire?**

Katara, apparently, is a lot like Iroh. And like Iroh, she has the uncanny ability to realise something is wrong, figure out what is wrong, and then talk people into emptying their minds and placing their problems upon the ground for her to take a look at.

So Toph is not entirely surprised when Katara sits herself down in front of her with a tray of steaming tea, an inquiring smile upon her face. The young Fire Lady doesn't even need to ask, and to be honest, Toph has been waiting for her (or Iroh) to ask her what is wrong.

Uncharacteristically, the blind girl has been wanting to speak her mind to someone for quite some time – to speak to someone about the vibrations that have been missing for almost three months. The only problem is that by telling someone, she would risk revealing a secret she has held dear since the end of the war two years ago.

And because it is Katara listening, the waterbender most probably already knows.

The two girls have been sitting in silence for half a minute now, and Katara sits still, waiting patiently for Toph to begin. There is no sign of irritation, or impatience, or boredom, and finally after a small sip of tea, Toph bites her lip and decides that she has kept her 'older sister' waiting long enough.

And she begins.

**Love is Waiting**

"It's Aang," she mutters, "He's really starting to annoy me. It's just that for three months now, the vibrations I used to feel when I first met him and you guys… well, they've gone missing. Ever since you and Zuko got married not too long ago, he's been so different – I don't think I even know who he is anymore.

"I know you've noticed that I've changed his nickname. Now you know why – I haven't got a clue where on earth those light footfalls have gone."

"Have you spoken to him?" asks Katara, pouring herself another cup of tea.

"No," answers Toph.

"Why not?" Katara cocks an eyebrow at the younger girl, takes a delicate sip of tea from her cup, and then folds her arms across her chest.

The blind girl does not answer right away, and in the pause in between, Katara studies her downcast, frowning, thoughtful face. Of course, the older girl already knows what's wrong with her, and why she won't answer a simple question, but the waterbender shares Iroh's 'Let it Out' philosophy. "Well?" she prompts.

"Because I don't want to!" snaps Toph finally. "I'll take my chances with waiting for him to change back, thank you very much. I know he'll change back into his old self eventually, and I'll wait!"

And then she hears Katara chuckle, and she claps a hand to her mouth in horror. How could she let the older girl hear her say something so _cheesy_? She would probably never hear the end of it! And what if she tells Aang?

Toph snarls at her and seethes. "Tell anyone what I just said and I'll bury you alive, you hear me?"

**Albertine**

Aang has a number of people to go to for advice, but he never really counted Zuko as one of them. The young Fire Lord does not at all seem the type to give anyone any sort of advice – especially if 'anyone' is Aang.

It's actually quite absurd. Why would the Avatar need advice anyway? What for? Surely the more-than-a-thousand year-old spirit within the boy would make him wiser beyond belief? Why would _he _need advice?

And besides, nothing's wrong. Nothing's wrong at all – only Toph is hiding something from all of them. And when she forces a smile, there's always something in his gut that twists and demands that he ask her if everything's okay. And the no 'earthly attachments' rule. But other than that, nothing's wrong at all.

Apparently, Zuko thinks different.

"Just talk to her already," he snaps. "Your constant confusion about the opposite sex, particularly a blind earthbending girl, is driving me crazy."

Aang blinks. "What makes you think I'm thinking about Toph?"

Zuko rolls his eyes. "Oh please, like no one else can tell. Even Sokka can. Now go talk to her before I get Uncle Iroh to make you."

"Umm… okay…" mumbles Aang, and he makes a note to ask Zuko for advice more often.

**C.S. Lewis Song**

Toph has not seen or heard from her parents in over three years, and to be honest, she hasn't got a problem with that. Her parents have done nothing but hold her back and hide her from the world for almost twelve years. Now that she is out of their reach, she is free.

Completely and utterly free.

She loves it, but she has her share of problems like the current disappearance of Aang's original footfalls, but something even worse has been added to her problems because…

Well, to state what her other problem is, then something else must be stated first: the first line is a lie. She _has_ heard from her parents over a hundred times during the past months, and she has destroyed all evidence that she has indeed heard from them. She refuses to reply to them and she _absolutely_ refuses to tell anyone about them. So, to be _really _honest, her problems have not only been Aang-related, but home-related too because the letters have come all too soon.

_Please Toph,  
Come home, if only for two months. It is all we ask._

_Daughter, _

_We miss you and are so proud of you. Please come home so we can see how you've grown._

_Our dear girl,  
Please, at the very least, answer our letters. We love you and only wish to see you again._

And so they continue, begging for her to come home, and finally she grits her teeth and replies.

She is terribly quiet afterwards.

"Is it Aang again?" asks Katara when she finds her sitting alone by the fountain.

"No," she answers. "I'm going home next week is all."

**Faithful**

"Toph, I need to talk to you."

"Great, I need to tell you something too. Do you want to go first or should I?"

"Go ahead."

"Okay… well, I'll just get straight to the point, um… I'm going home next week to visit my parents."

"… _What? _Why?"

"Well… they're my parents. They want to see me, I'm leaving next week."

"But… you can't just go like that! You'd never even think of going back!"

"The thing is though – and I'm sorry for hiding this from everyone, I haven't even told Katara – that I've been receiving letters from them ever since Katara and Zuko got married three months ago."

"So that's why you were so quiet during the past months?"

"… Yes and no."

"You're coming back, right?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I'm coming back, you dolt! There's only one group of people I'll keep coming back to, and that's you guys. Now, what were you going to say."

"… N-nothing. Never mind."

**Seeds**

Toph arrives home much sooner than expected and to her absolute irritation, her parents immediately begin to treat her like a child again.

Two days later, she _already _wishes she were back in the Fire Nation with the people who planted the seeds of freedom within her. It pains her so much having to endure the torture her parents are placing on her, but she grits her teeth and ignores it, all the while thinking of what she could be doing if she were back with the others.

She wonders why she even gave in to those letters and come home to _this. _She is but a fourteen year-old blind girl but at the same time, the most powerful earthbender in the world, and she has resigned herself to be treated like _this_.

And because it seems like the gods like to torture her, she just happens to overhear a conversation about her future:

"_We cannot do this to her! She is only fourteen!"_

"_But if we don't, the entire family fortune will be lost to a relative whom I haven't even met."_

"_She is only a child!"_

"_Yes, she is _my _child. _Our _child, and I am her father. I decide on her future. Toph will marry the man we have picked for her. She has no other choice because I highly doubt that she will want to lose the family fortune either."_

**Hosea's Wife**

"She can't get married!"

Zuko's head snaps up at the Avatar's sudden outburst, confused. He is tired today, and the sudden explosion of sound from the young Avatar has caused him to think he has just lost some IQ points. "She's getting married?" he asks dumbly.

"To someone she's never even met!" Aang half-shouts. "And she can't anyway! She's only fourteen and she promised that she'd come back!"

The Fire Lord blinks. "Who're we talking about?"

Aang glares at him. "Pardon my rudeness, your Highness, but we're talking about Toph, you idiot! Who else would I be talking about?"

"Oh," says Zuko. "Right. Continue… only, try not to shout."

Aang ignores the second part. "Her parents are making her do it, because apparently she can't inherit the family fortune if she doesn't get married! If she leaves, she gets absolutely nothing, and that means there'll be nothing left for her and she'll have nowhere to go! Not only that, but she's _fourteen_! Way too young! You yourself said that Katara was too young to get married at fourteen and was polite enough to wait for become of marrying age! Zuko, do something! Make it so she an inherit her family's stuff without getting married!"

Zuko massages his forehead wearily. "I can't," he says simply. "As much as I'd like to do something, I can't. I'm the Fire Lord, not the Earth King – I have no business meddling in their affairs."

"But-"

"If you're so desperate," interrupts Zuko, "you do something about it. You _are _the Avatar."

Aang blinks and pauses, casting his grey eyes to the marble floor in thought. When he looks up again, there is a new look in his eyes: the determination that burns only when one is willing to do something crazy to help a friend in need, and he asks, "Can I borrow your mask, then?"

**The Thief**

Rumour in the Earth Kingdom has it that the Blue Spirit has returned to reclaim something that is not rightfully theirs.

Toph hears far-fetched stories about him from the servants and the guards of the house of Bei Fong. Some say he is a banished spirit from the Spirit World, others say he is the spirit of a desperate water tribesman. The blind girls scoffs at these stories – she knows the real story, after all – and knows that the rumours are just that. Rumours.

She knows that the others are busy trying to keep the Fire Nation under control, there is no way they would come all the way out to the Earth Kingdom just for her.

Two nights before the wedding, she wishes more than ever to return to the Fire Nation and be free again, and wishing more than anything that the rumours are true.

And to her absolute shock but utter joy, they are.

"Toph?" His voice is muffled, but those footfalls are unmistakeable, and her heart begins to swell with happiness when she realises that it is _him_. The _real _him, and not some quiet, earthbound stranger.

"Aang?" she chokes, staggering towards him. "Twinkle toes, is that really _you_?"

Aang lifts the mask and grins at her, even though she cannot see it. "Glad to know that my nickname's back," he beams. He holds out his hand but she does not take it. Instead she flings herself upon him, catching him in an almost bone crunching embrace.

He pries her off him and keeps his grin. "Let's get out here."

**Hymn**

"Well," says Aang, as the two ride Appa back to the Fire Nation. The moon is shining brightly upon them, and Toph must say that she has never been so relieved to be off the ground before. "That went surprisingly well, didn't it?"

Toph cannot wipe the grin off her face. "What about the family fortune?"

Aang snorts. "I'm the Avatar, remember? I can negotiate so that you don't have to get married to inherit your stuff."

For a moment, Toph is speechless, and still beaming, she realises that her cheeks suddenly feel damp. She wipes the tears away with her sleeve, but it is too late and Aang has noticed.

"Toph, are you _crying_?"

"No!" she snaps. "I'm just… gods, Aang, I can't thank you enough."

Aang shrugs, and chuckles. "You're welcome."

There is a pause, and then, "Aang, why did you come after me? You've got more important things to do than come and rescue me disguised as Zuko's alter-ego."

Aang shrugs once again. "If you got married, you wouldn't come back – which you said you would. So I followed. Would you follow me if I did something similar?"

Leaning back on the side of Appa's saddle, Toph sighs, feeling more relaxed than in over three months. "Yep," she answers. "I swore to myself when the war ended that I would follow you everywhere, Twinkle toes. And if you hadn't shown up tonight, I would've played runaway bride anyway – go straight back to the Fire Nation and whooped your sorry but for not coming to get me."

Their laughter is what breaks the crisp silence in the cool night air.

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**Gosh. Another one that turned out unbearably long. Anyway, 'Albertine' is the name of the girl in Rwanda that Brooke Fraser sponsors. She named the album after her and wrote a song about her and life in Rwanda. It seemed kinda inappropriate to name this fic 'Albertine' and so, I have used a the first song to title it.**

**R'n'R**

**JJ**


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